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"champions league DRAW"

Champions League second group stage draw:

Group A
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Bayer Leverkusen
Newcastle

Group B
Valencia
Arsenal
Roma
Ajax

Group C
Real Madrid
AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Lokomotiv Moscow

Group D
Manchester United
Juventus
Deportivo La Coruna
FC Basle

Well everyone avoided Real madrid......... arsenal vs valencia is gonna be tight they were lucky last time around. newcastle have barca beatable by no means i say. man u get a pretty tough group aswell dont underestimate basle.....

How come Real Mardid always have an easy league in the 2nd pharse every year?

The boys at UEFA have a lot to answer for, if it had not been drawn live on tv and radio.

Ouch... Newcastle drew the short straw.

Man Utd and Arsenal 'should' both progress to the quarter-finals, im sure if you offered all 3 of our teams 2nd place in their groups right now then they would all bite ya hand off.

I agree that Basle are not that huge a threat and are arguably the weakest of the 16 qualifiers, if only Liverpool had beat Basle then maybe they would have been in the same group as Man Utd but ohwell...

Group A
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Bayer Leverkusen
Newcastle

Anyone can qualify in this group, but I don't think that Leverkusen will be going through. Hopefully Newcastle will avoid any injuries and will be at there best and qualify. Barcelona will probably win the group.

Group B
Valencia
Arsenal
Roma
Ajax

Arsenal will have some hard work to do, but I can see them qualifying into the next round with Valencia.

Group C
Real Madrid
AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Lokomotiv Moscow

Real Madrid and AC Milan are the two teams that I fancied winning the Champions League before it began, so I will not change my mind and say that they will both go through to the next round with ease.

Group D
Manchester United
Juventus
Deportivo La Coruna
FC Basle

Quite a tough group for Man United and I don't think they will qualify, but hopefully I am mistaken. Can't see FC Basle qualifying, so it will be a battle between the other three clubs.

I don't see Basle as a threat. Liverpool were architects of their own demise.

Considering Newcastle were in the fourth pot, they didn't do *too* badly on the draw.

Arsenal could have problems in this stage. Ajax shouldn't be much of a problem, but nobody wants to face Valencia, and Roma are on good form lately. Maybe that will have changed by the time this phase starts though.

United were lucky to get Basle, admittedly - but that only means there are three teams competing for two places. I think Deportivo will be the other team to drop out, United and Juve being too strong this year. Deportivo are a good side, but they let in twelve goals in the last stage, and they are not doing fantastically in the Primera Liga. I just don't think they can hold on.

How I'd hate to be a Newcastle fan today!! :D

But in saying that, our group won't be too-east either... :S

We've got experience of Deportivo and Juventus from the past, so I think we should know what to expect, and I believe we will be able to over-come them if we can get out team in-shape soon.
As for Basle, we know nothing, really. Except that they beat Liverpool, and have a manager who failed at White Hart Lane.

If we can get out act together then we should be able to qualify.
If we remain in the mess we've been in this season, then we're gunna need a whole lotta luck to get through it!
Then again... Juvé have been going downhill since Zidane left...
But Deportivo are pretty unpredictable.

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> Easy-ish group for United again. How do they manage it?

Easy?? Admittedly it's not quite as bad as Arsenal's group, but I'd expect an easy 6 points for the gunners agains Ajax as we'd get ours from Basle.

And your record agains the other teams in previous seasons is massively irrelevant. They are highly talented teams. Juventus have been the bane of many a european campaign.

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:

Deportivo and Juventus have both been beaten
> fairly convincingly by Arsenal in recent seasons

Ah yes, but on the other side a Juventus *reserve* team beat you last season and Deportivo cruised past you at Highbury :)

Ahem...

Anyways, the draw is looking very tasty. Wouldnt be surprised if all the english teams went out.

Looking forward to some top quality football!

Easy-ish group for United again. How do they manage it?

Pretty much a guaranteed six points from Basle (though with recent form, who knows?), and Deportivo and Juventus have both been beaten fairly convincingly by Arsenal in recent seasons, on our better European days.

Poor old Newcastle, though hardest of the lot, probably.

Oh crap. I knew we'd have Deportivo, but having Juventus as well is harsh.

We'll get 6 easy points off those swiss nobodies though. Many thanks to Liverpool for letting them through.